It all began with a useless reptile
by luis.miguelsilveira.1
Summary: What if it was all a lot more complicated? What if Toothless was a lot more mysterious than you first thought? And what about Hiccup and Astrid? Read and find out!
1. Chapter 1

"The unholy offspring."-Chapter 1

He was injured. "_An injured dragon is a dead dragon_", that's the unspoken rule in the nest. And then he appeared. That scrawny Viking who couldn't (or wouldn't, actually) kill a dragon. He freed him from his binds. Angry that maybe this was the Viking that took him down and injured his tail, he pinned him to a rock. But then, he saw that this child (that's what he was, to his eyes) didn't mean to harm him now, so he just roared and disappeared in the shadows.

***time skip***

He was screaming like a frightened animal. That wasn't supposed to happen. He was a Night Fury, for Odin's sake! The strongest and bravest dragon in the world. Still, he screamed as they plummeted against certain death. He had gone flying with his human companion and he fell off the saddle at the top of their vertical climb. Without as rider, they tumbled down from the sky. Somehow, Hiccup managed to get onto the saddle again, and his fear turned to steel-like determination as they twisted and turned through the maze of sharp rocks at near-terminal velocity. Someone was bound to get killed. Still, they made out of it unscathed. They were both smiling. Hiccup due to the adrenaline rush and the fact that they were still alive. Toothless, on the other hand, discovered a characteristic of his friend that no one else knew about: he could face his fears with a strong determination. And he was an expert at flying, twisting and turning and throwing his weight into the curves and dives and various aerobatic manoeuvres they had to perform. He was the perfect dragon, and still he was a human. But he knew how to deal with that problem. He took him to the world where dragons dare and humans dream of, up above the clouds. Hiccup had no fear of heights and was a pro at flying. He was obstinate, true to his friends and loyal. He didn't need anything else to become a Night Fury.

Now, every dragon is born with the power to do one transformation. The ancient Vikings knew of that and made legends of it. They called it the Power, but dragons called it The Great Essential Magic. Toothless fired a blue fireball that formed a cylinder of flames in the air. He poured his magic into it, but suddenly, he stopped and it turned into a normal fire, scorching Hiccup's hair and clothes. "Oh, come on!" he complained just as they flew into it.

The next day they were discovered by a blonde female whom Hiccup feared and cared about at the same time. He made clear that she couldn't escape so Toothless grabbed her and flew to the top of a tall tree. The Viking boy invited her to climb on the dragon's back. They took her for a flight and after tossing and turning until she said "sorry" (which Toothless found necessary), they took her to the paradise above the clouds. She wasn't afraid as well and she was strong. And even better, _A MATCHED PAIR_! There wouldn't be a better chance in thousands of years. He spat out his blue fireball and dumped his power into it. It became a ball of colorful flashes and crackling like thunder.

"Bud, what's that?" Hiccup was curious as to what was happening. They dove straight into it and it boomed loudly, louder than a Thunderdrum scream. The world went black for the humans as they plummeted back to the ground. Hiccup shrugged the effects of the magic and saw his friend plunging to the sea bellow them. He glided alongside him, wings overlapping and jamming his tail against Toothless' damaged tail. They glided like that back to the cove where they first met. He saw their reflex in the water of the lake and screamed. He was seeing _two_ Night Furies. His body went limp and he fell to the water, skimming to the shore next to Toothless. He was in shock and suddenly realized he was using body parts and reflexes he shouldn't have. His mind broke down and he curled up shaking. Toothless wrapped a wing around him. _I hope you appreciate this gift, my friend. But please don't cry. You're a Night Fury. We don't cry._

* * *

><p>Short chapter, I know. I'm trying my luck with writing a movie-based fanfiction. In this case, it's about the How To Train Your Dragon movies (and possibly the Dragons: Riders of Berk TV series.). The inspiration for this is taken from the story "Lightning and Death Itself" from Cke1st. Go check it out, it's a cool fanfiction!<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Adaptation-Chapter 2

He was a Night Fury. And all of a sudden, so was the human. Will this work out, or will there be only suffering? And what about the female? Will they ever come to terms with what he did? It's up to Toothless to solve this mess!

Toothless lay motionless next to a sobbing Hiccup, until suddenly the sobs stopped and the newly-turned dragon got up and stared at him. "Toothless…explain the reasons behind this." They heard a rustle of leaves and another black dragon surged from the trees. "Hiccup! Where are you?!" She noticed two jet-black dragons standing by the water and she joined them. "You idiotic lizard! What have you done?" The dragon in question sat down, and they two did the same. "Now, Toothless, why did you do this?" Hiccup was playing the peace-keeper, keeping Astrid from lashing at his best friend in rage. "I'm sure you know what you now are…don't interrupt. You are the fastest and most powerful dragon that ever existed, except our ruler. You are a Night Fury." "That's very pretty, but why?" Hiccup wanted to know why, not minor details, he could figure those out himself. "It's a long story." "Well, bud, no one's going anywhere so soon, so I guess you owe us a long story."

Toothless closed his eyes for a minute. "If you want a long story. Night Furies are rare, very rare. Most dragons lay 4 to 20 eggs, depending on what kind of dragon they are. But Night Furies aren't like that. We are very lucky if our females lay 2 eggs even once. So, with the amount of times we get killed or seriously injured by angry Vikings…we have a population problem. So, when get a chance to grab and transform Vikings, we gladly take that chance, because we need all Night Furies we can get, especially females, so we can keep the species. Some of us say we only lay one egg per year, others say some females can lay 2 eggs…the fact is, I never saw a female lay 2 eggs. Plus, we only transform the strongest. The intensity of the transformation makes the weakest go insane, and we don't need that."

Astrid scowled. "So why is he here?" She pointed at Hiccup, who kept a straight face that made Toothless' heart break a little. He quickly was in front of her growling angrily. "You don't even know half of what he's capable. How do you expect him to be himself when the whole village wanted him either dead or away?" Astrid could have sworn she saw tears in Hiccup's Night Fury eyes, and it made her consider what Toothless had said, and she suddenly felt sad just looking at him. It was like she was seeing his whole life in his eyes. The pain and suffering that his village didn't want him, his friends hated him and his father didn't love him…it broke her heart in two. "Hiccup…is it true? Was it that bad how we treated you?" His only answer was curling up in a black ball of scales so they wouldn't see his tears, but her very sensitive Night Fury hearing caught the faint sobs that escaped his mouth. She felt guilty of her actions and that he went through all of it without breaking. She admired him for that, but also felt awful that it was her fault that he was now crying. Toothless wrapped a wing around him, and there was hate and anger in his eyes as he glared at her.

Eventually the sobbing faded and he asked Toothless to continue. The older dragon sat near him as h continued his long story. "I know what you are going through. I was a human too. I had a pretty good life, but I lacked love from my family, so I ran outside during a dragon raid to my village, which, coincidentally, is what you now call Berk." The astonishment on Astrid and Hiccup's faces was clearly evident. "I was a young, bold warrior, so the Night Fury in charge of that raid carried me back to his nest and transformed me. We all resent being transformed for some time, but we get used to it, and flying is always fun." Hiccup smiled and bumped him gently. "We could say so, right bud?" Toothless laughed and wrapped a wing around his friend. "Tomorrow I will teach you to fly. " Hiccup smiled like a kid in a candy store, which made Astrid groan in frustration and curl up under the shadows for the night "I sure hope this is all a dream."

The next day, Hiccup was the first to wake up, excited for flight lessons. "When will we begin?" Toothless, completely awake as well grinned. "Right now! Climb on that rock and face that tree on the other side. Then, on the count to three, spread you wings and straighten you tail with your tail flaps open. When I say 'three' jump and just let your wings carry you across the water to the other side." Astrid stayed under the shadows of some tall bushes, pretending to still be asleep while despising the fact that Hiccup was perfectly happy as he successfully glided back and forth across the cove with a childish grin on his draconic face.

Toothless was overwhelmed at how fast Hiccup learned. He didn't fight his instincts at all and his technical mind rejoiced while analysing every detail, every reflex, every muscle and bone. Even a simple glide was a wonder of what we would later call Physics. By the end of the day he was starting to learn how to curve and tilt his flight path. Toothless eventually had to stop him. "Hiccup, take a break. You're new at all this and you shouldn't make your wings so tired. Relax and eat some of the fish available at this lake" He gladly did so, discovering how good raw fish smelled and tasted now that he was a dragon.

Astrid wasn't so easy to teach. She didn't want to be a dragon and wanted to keep her instincts at bay and control her actions, like she always did. This led to several splashes into the water or hits against the hard ground. That was until she saw how well Hiccup dealed with this and how, yet again, he was getting better than her and getting all the attention and praise while keeping her in the shadows. This hurt her pride and flared her competitiveness, which led her to heeding the advices and relying on her instincts. She was flying about three days after Hiccup mastered the flight patterns of a fully grown Nigh Fury. He would come back with a mouthful of fish for them each day and she tried to keep up with his abilities. One thing she was indeed good was at the landings. She had all the grace and swiftness required of such majestic creatures as Night Furies, while Hiccup did something like a controlled crash. Toothless was impressed, and at the same time sad that he couldn't go fly with them. Without his rider, he couldn't fly like he once did. He could instead glide, but whenever he tried to curve, he wavered and crashed.

He was stranded there, an easy prey for Vikings. This stung at Hiccup's heart. He didn't want to leave him behind, but he would have to when his own father found the cove. It was a death sentence. "_An injured dragon is a dead dragon._"


	3. Chapter 3

Lightning- Chapter 3

His friend was as good as dead. He wouldn't leave him to die. Will there be hope for Toothless? And what about Astrid? Is her heart slowly changing? How will Hiccup deal with all this?

It was raining, a fairly common event, considering this is Berk. What was not so normal was the lightning storm that encompassed the rain. This kept them from flying, because, once in the air, it would be easy to take a lightning bolt hit. This wouldn't kill a Night Fury, (they were, after all, the offspring of lightning and death)but it could stun them and send them plunging down to the cold ocean waters, not to mention Astrid still couldn't fly in the rain. It also meant Hiccup was frustrated because he loved flying. He was pacing back and forth groaning. Toothless lunged forward and tackled him to the ground laughing. Hiccup realized his intentions and quickly got up and arched his back, ready to jump at him. Astrid shook her head smiling a little. '_Males…so childish' _She couldn't help but stare at the scene in front of her, both male dragons playing something like a tug-of-war and trying to make the other submit while laughing. Apparently they were already used to do that. She found herself staring at the sleek black dragon that was Hiccup with rapt attention. '_He's comfortable as a dragon, probably more than when he was human. How did he accept this so easily? Well, he does things well at the first try…he's not messing up anymore, I'm surprised. And he's not so bad…'_ She shook her head before her mind could go any further on that line of thought. '_Hold it right there! You are NOT falling for a _dragon_! You will find a way to reverse this and go back to the village. I won't kill dragons anymore if that's fair, but I am NOT turning into a dragon!'_

While she dealed with this, Hiccup and Toothless bit and clawed at each other playfully. This tested Hiccup's fighting abilities while keeping him busy with something. And Toothless was impressed. The younger dragon's technical mind found openings he didn't realize he was leaving and kept his mentor at a safe distance. They were tied, experience meeting technical ability in a balanced match that none could win, and it was exciting for both, to let their inner dragon loose and watch what the other could do. Hiccup quickly burst forward and tackled Toothless, throwing him on his back and biting his neck with teeth retracted. "I win!" He got off of his mentor and smiled like a hatchling while the older dragon shook his head and laughed. "Indeed, but remember to tuck your wings in all the time. That last move, you kept your wings half out. While it might make you look bigger and more threatening, it's a weak spot. Always protect your wings in a fight."

They heard a low growl and Hiccup looked at Astrid. She seemed a little flustered and walked to the pond to drink and dive underwater for a minute. Hiccup shrugged and lay down next to Toothless. "I guess she's still dealing with all this." Toothless curled up and soon they were dozing off. I t was natural for a dragon to love sleep, so they frequently fell asleep in the afternoon after their lessons. Even Astrid usually surrendered to sleep more and more frequently each day. So what was strange was seeing her come out of the water and lay down snuggling against Hiccup. It was normal for her to sleep around that time, what wasn't, was that she was this close to Hiccup, whom she apparently despised. Toothless peeked an eye open, and smiled. He could recognize a forming pair anywhere. '_If they get over this, they will be a strong couple._'

His mind wandered elsewhere and he fell asleep again, this time plagued with his frequent nightmare.

…..

They were woken up by a sudden thunderclap and a loud painful roar. Hiccup looked at his friend Toothless, only to see him on his side, unconscious and his tail slightly charred. He quickly deduced that he had been hit by a stray lightning bolt that knocked him out. He discovered at that time yet another Night Fury ability. It wasn't at random that the humans called them "the unholy offspring of Lightning and Death itself". When he examined his tail, he found two perfect tail fins, where there had only been one. He decided he would ask Toothless about it later. When he looked around, his eyes met Astrid's and he could have sworn he saw a blush in her face before she looked away. He had thought it was impossible for a Night Fury to blush, never mind if it was Astrid, the shield maiden. He decided he shouldn't pay that much attention to it and returned to his friend, who was now waking up.

The dragon in question groaned and shook his head. "Whoa…that was intense…why are you staring at me?" Hiccup laughed. "Your tail, bud. I think you should take a look at it…" And so he did, gasping in surprise as he saw a perfect double-finned tail. "I once heard about this…I never thought it would be true." He saw the curiosity in Hiccup's face and smiled. "There's a myth about Night Furies healing when hit by a lightning bolt. I never tried it, until now, but it seems like it's not a myth. But it's quite painful, though." He shook his head hard and smirked. "Okay, hotshot, next morning start your "real" flight lessons!" Hiccup nodded, smirking too, and dragged himself closer to Astrid and nudged her with a wing. She reluctantly tried to hide a smile as she looked at him. She chuckled seeing him fast asleep and wrapped a wing around him. It was oddly comfortable for her to do it, almost like she was actually hugging him and fell asleep as well. Both young Night Furies slept soundly the rest of the night and next morning. Something started changing for Astrid that morning. It'd be a cold day in a Fireworms nest before she admitted it, but she actually started considering Hiccup (or rather Young-Night-Fury as Toothless now referred to him in a draconic naming sense) as a quite handsome dragon, as Toothless once said. It was also Hiccup who chose her dragon name and she would internally swoon anytime she remembered it. He had called her Night-Fury-black-rose out of a joke, but it quickly became her new name, and she had embraced her new nature since then. Astrid really didn't want to lose his company, but she would never admit it.

Hiccup and Toothless (Young-Night-Fury and Night-Fury) would play games of aerial tag to strengthen their flight pattern in group and, of course, Night-Fury-black-rose couldn't say now, and she would find herself relishing in the joy of flying and laughing together with the two other dragons.

Until the day came that they were discovered by a young Viking and everything started to change for Berk and the dragons.


	4. Chapter 4

The Departure-Chapter 4

It's all good for the dragons until a young Viking finds them and they have to flee. How will their lives be from now on? And what secrets lie within the dragons' nest?

They were out at sea fishing and Astrid was practising the ability to shoot a plasma blast that exploded just under the surface and stunned all the fish nearby. They were large tuna, a rare occurrence for that place. Her conclusion about shooting fireballs: "_This is just like when I threw my axe at the trees, only my axe didn't explode on contact._" They returned to the cove to rest and wait for the eventual day when the Mother would call them in. There was a sudden rustle of leaves on the nearby bushes that surprised them. Toothless and Young-night-fury, being the bigger dragons, quickly surged ahead, teeth bared, tail lashing out and threatening growls that would dissuade even the biggest Monstrous Nightmare from attacking. The disturbance happened to be no one else than Gustav Larson, the most energetic kid in the village. The reaction of the dragons made him jump and back away against the wall.

"Wait, don't do anything to him." Young-night-fury held up a paw to hold Toothless back and grinned. Gustav whimpered, thinking the grinning dragon was going to eat him. What he didn't expect was that it scratched runes in the ground in front of him.

**GUSTAV, DON'T WORRY**

**WE WON'T EAT YOU.**

**BUT I MUST ASK YOU TO **

**THROW AWAY YOUR KNIFE.**

**I'M HICCUP, BY THE WAY.**

This stunned the young Viking into silence. He had known Hiccup as the village's screw-up and the most useless Viking ever, but he also knew he had a kind heart. Now that same Hiccup was a dragon, A NIGHT FURY nonetheless. He swallowed hard and went for his knife. This made Toothless growl again and he dropped it. Hiccup nodded and wrote again.

**I KNOW IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE**

**BUT I AM A DRAGON**

**A NIGHT FURY IF YOU WANT **

**TO GET MORE SPECIFIC.**

Then came Astrid.

**I'M ASTRID. AND WE **

**NEED YOU TO BELIEVE**

**AND DO US A FAVOR.**

He looked at them and gulped. "S-so you're telling me you're Astrid…and he's Hiccup…and you're dragons now? And you're actually talking to me by scratching runes on the ground….how do I know you're not just some dragons who are tricking me to kill and eat me?"

His answer came in the typical Hiccup fashion.

**THANK YOU FOR**

**SUMMING THAT UP.**

**AND WE WON'T EAT YOU. **

**WE EAT FISH, NOT MEAT.**

His sarcastic grin and the first sentence were all too familiar, and he kneeled in front of the beasts.

"If you really are Hiccup and Astrid, why are you like…this?"

**YOU JUST GESTURED TO ALL OF US.**

His eyes grew wide and he gasped. Only one person could say that and look so sarcastic and smug about it. Hiccup. He laughed and gently rose a hand to the dragon's snout. "You really are Hiccup, huh?" The dragon nodded and rubbed his scaly nose on his hand, crooning happily. Astrid nudged his side and he laughed. "I'm ticklish, Astrid!" She had always been like a sister to him, so he hugged her.

**WE WANT YOU TO MEET SOMEONE.**

**THIS IS TOOTHLESS, THE DRAGON**

**WHO TRANSFORMED US.**

Gustav blinked and looked at the dragon in question. "Is he safe?" The two dragons by his side erupted in laughter as Toothless looked at him curiously. He wasn't expecting that, but human children are naturally fearless when curious, and Gustav was all about curiosity. The other dragons nodded and he reached a hand to pet his snout. He sighed. "Who knew dragons were such funny and good creatures?" Hiccup nodded at that and grinned again. He laid down and shook his head, rumbling slightly.

**HE SAYS TO CLIMB ON HIS BACK AND HOLD ON TIGHT. **

Astrid translated and gently nudged him to climb on Hiccup's back. He knew they were friendly, but they were also scaly and bigger than him so he offered no resistance as he hugged the dragon's neck. Hiccup slowly launched onto the air and flapped to gain altitude. Gustav was frozen in place by fear of falling as he looked down in terror. Hiccup levelled off and glided over the sea, Astrid and Toothless each on his side. The boy let go and sat upwards. He started laughing delightedly. "I'm flying! Oh this is so awesome! Wait…I'm flying…on a dragon!" Hiccup rumbled and nodded. He knew the joy of flying on a dragon like that. He shot upwards, the other two dragons falling behind to catch Gustav in case he fell off. He didn't. The boy tightened his legs and let his arms go limp, enjoying the feeling of the air rushing against his face. They burst above the cloud layer, where the sun shined brightly over the clouds. Gustav lost his speech at the magnificence of it all. He hugged Hiccup. "This is beautiful! You're so lucky! What else can you do?" Astrid knew what was coming, so she pushed him gently against the dragon and he latched on against his neck. "Obviously you want me to hold on." He chuckled.

Then Hiccup folded his wings and zoomed downwards. He felt his airspeed rise, the rising whistle of air rushing between his main wings and sub-wings and saw the sea bellow. He also heard the panicked squeak his passenger gave at the beginning of the dive. He fell through the sky until about 2 meters above the water and levelled off, his airspeed high and raising a rooster-tail of water behind him. Gustav delighted in the rush of adrenaline and laughed loudly, enjoying it all. What he didn't expect was to feel himself lifted off the dragon's back by another dragon. He looked up to see Astrid holding him and calmed down from his momentary panic. Astrid wanted him to know what it was like for her to be carried off like that when Hiccup and Toothless took her for a flight. They turned inland and landed at the cove. Gustav jumped down and sat on a log still giggling. He looked at the dragons and smiled. "You're awesome!"

He sighed. "What was the favour you guys wanted?"

**WE WANT YOU TO TELL OUR PARENTS**

**THAT WE ARE FINE, SAFE AND SOUND**

**AND WE RAN AWAY AND WON'T BE**

**COMING BACK. CAN YOU DO IT?**

Hiccup licked his cheek and crooned sadly. "I presume you're going to the dragons' nest?" The black reptiles nodded and crooned sadly. He stood up, trying to act like the grown up he still wasn't. "Alright. Can you guys visit, sometimes?" They smiled and licked his cheeks. Suddenly their teeth itched and they felt an uncomfortable feeling they couldn't shake off. They knew what it was. The Mother was calling.

**WE MUST GO NOW. THE MOTHER **

**DRAGON IS CALLING ALL DRAGONS.**

**WE WILL VISIT IN A MONTH.**

"Sure. Guys, be safe, ok?" They nuzzled him and flapped off a few moments later, towards their future.


End file.
